


5 Times Martin Thought and 1 Time He Knew

by TerusSpicyLasange



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: 5 Times, Happy Ending, M/M, No beta we kayak like Tim, Set in Episodes 159-160 | Scottish Safehouse Period (The Magnus Archives), Some Fluff, Some angst, s1-4 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:00:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25078771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerusSpicyLasange/pseuds/TerusSpicyLasange
Summary: aka martin thinking that jon might have feelings for him and then knowing it
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 6
Kudos: 122





	5 Times Martin Thought and 1 Time He Knew

**Author's Note:**

> wrote the majority of this in one sitting  
> i got the fuckin dates wrong btw i accidentally used the publishing dates than the in-episode recording dates but i genuinely could not care less sorry yall lmao

1.  
August 22nd, 2016  
Martin was walking down a hallway towards the office he shared with Tim and Sasha when he heard Sasha call his name from the document room he was sleeping in.  
He walked into the room and felt his face go red when he saw Sasha with the box full of microwave meals he hid at the back of one of the shelves.  
"Martin, why do you have...?"  
"Oh, uh, I-I can't really cook anything from scratch, there's no oven or stove here, I can't even really cook either, but uh, they're the cheapest and healthiest option I have to eat apart from mcdonalds or beans on toast every night... I'm really sorry Sasha, I-I didn't think anyone would find them."

Before Sasha could reply, Jon had walked in and Martin felt his face go even redder, begging for the worms to break in and eat him whole right where he stood.  
"Martin, Sasha, do you know where-"  
Jon didn't even bother to close his mouth as his eyes slowly moved from the box, to Sasha, then to Martin and back to the box again.  
"Martin, why do you have-" Jon tried to speak.  
"OKAY! Everyone out of here, NOW! I'm not in the mood for people to judge my eating habits, thank you very much!" He said a little bit louder than he meant to, quickly pushing Sasha and Jon out into the hallway and locking himself inside the document room. He could really do with the ground just swallowing him right now. He felt ashamed and embarrassed. He was perfectly justified in having the box of damn microwave meals, he really didn't have any other choice, but the last thing he wanted was for his coworkers to find out, especially Jon of all people. He sat for a minute, letting himself have a little cry just to get him through the day. God, had he really resorted to having small breakdowns throughout the day to cope? He eventually went back out, just to finish the few bits of work he had left but he didn't eat any dinner that night.

The next day, he tried to act like nothing had happened. At least until Jon knocked on his door before he usually went home.  
"Oh - Jon, is everything ok?" Martin asked, noticing the small box in Jon's hands.  
"Here. I, uh... I cooked too much last night so... S' for you." Jon said awkwardly, rushing through the words. Martin smiled as he took the lunchbox from Jon. "I lived off that microwaved crap in college." Jon stated matter-of-factly. "I know what it does to your body and, well, I can't have my staff that way. I'll talk to Elias about getting some proper catering or, at the very least, subsidizing some sort of meal budget for you." Martin tried his best to avoid Jon's eyes, knowing his whole face had probably gone red by this point. (little did he know, Jon was avoiding eye contact too.)  
"Thank you, Jon. That's actually really nice of you!" Martin smiled. Jon started to walk away, dismissively waving a hand in the air, muttering something along the lines of "It's part of my job" under his breath.

Jon began a habit of "cooking too much," usually handing Martin another lunchbox every other day. Martin always found that Jon's cooking filled him more than the microwaved meals.

2.  
October 6th, 2016  
Jon and Martin sat in the archives, cornered. They assumed Jane Prentiss was on the other side of the wall, about to kill them.  
Jon was sat on the floor against the furthest wall from the door and Martin was on his hunkers slightly infront of Jon, with an arm held out as if to protect him.  
They watched as the wall cracked further and further, their deaths just moments away. Martin felt Jon latch onto his extended arm, warm blood soaking through the arm of his jumper.  
"Well Martin, I guess this is it!" Jon cried, pulling him back to sit beside him. Martin looked at Jon, seeing the twisted smile on his face as he held back sobs.  
Martin held his breath for a short moment.

"Jon, before we die, I just want you to know that I-"

Suddenly, the wall gave way and there stood Tim with a CO2 canister. Martin quickly shut his mouth, thanking whatever god there could be that he didnt finish that last sentence before the wall collapsed.  
As they walked to the tunnels, Jon held onto Martin's arm tighter than before.

3.  
April 2nd, 2017  
Martin had long moved out of the archives by now. Every day at 12.32 PM, Martin would knock at Jon's office door with a hot cup of tea in his hand. This day was like any other.  
"Sorry, I'm not interrupting you, am I?" Martin said cautiously as he entered Jon's office.  
"No, no, you're fine. Actually, I wanted to talk to you for a second. If you have the time, that is." Jon said in his nonchalant way.  
"Oh, uh, s-sure!" Martin smiled politely, awkwardly sitting down on the chair across from Jon at his desk.  
Martin watched as Jon rolled his hands around and looked at the ceiling, trying to think of the right words. After a short moment of this, he sighed and slumped a little bit against his desk, looking Martin straight in the eye. (Direct eye contact was unusual for Jon, at least with Martin. Martin couldn't help but shudder with the strange expression held on his face.)  
"Look, Martin, I'm not really the kind of person to apologize, but I just wanted to say sorry for the way I've been treating you while I've been head archivist." Jon said, trying to keep his stern, professional tone.  
"Oh." Martin said softly, before jumping to come up with a better response than just "oh." "It's fine, honestly! I-" He tried to excuse Jon, but was interrupted.  
"No, Martin, it's not fine! It wasn't fair on you. I didn't know about your CV or your mother, you were doing your best and I shouldn't have torn you down so quickly. You're just about the only person here I can trust and that means a lot to me. You've looked out for me a lot too... I'm sure Gertrude didn't have someone looking after her like you look after me." Jon smiled faintly, holding up the still steaming cup of tea and taking a sup, trying not to burn his mouth. Martin giggled faintly at the joke, fidgeting with his hands.  
"Well it's not like you don't look after me, either." Martin smiled, thinking about how good Jon's cooking was and how long it'd been since he'd been handed a lunchbox. "But thank you, Jon. I really appreciate it." They both sat and smiled at each other for a short moment, before Martin stood back up and took the empty cups from Jon's desk, taking them back to the canteen. 

4.  
June 15th 2018  
"so hows beijing?" Martin typed on his phone.  
"It wasn't worth my time. I don't want to talk about it. How are things at the archives?" Jon replied quickly.  
"same as always. elias is as creepy as ever and everyones still miserable" Martin sent. He looked at the text for a minute before sending a quick "lol" to try and make the message not sound as depressing.  
"Well it's good to know nothing changed when I left, haha." Jon replied. "I'm still going to be away for a while. Beijing was a complete miss but I think I know where to go now. I have to admit though, it's a bit lonely on my own." He added on. Martin blushed as he read the text.  
"yeah its weird without you around too." He wanted to type more, but Tim came into the office asking for a hand with some research. "hey jon i have to go, im still in work. ttyl" he typed quickly, putting down his phone to focus on whatever statement Tim was talking about.

At the end of the work day, he looked at his phone again to see a text from Jon.  
"I have no idea what 'ttyl' means but okay. We'll talk later? Please stay safe." Martin couldn't help but laugh fondly as he read the stupid message over and over again. He knew it was late for Jon, but he couldn't help himself from replying right then and there.  
"it means talk to u later lol, but yes if ur still awake im free to talk, if not we can talk in the morning. ill only stay safe if u promise to be safe too"  
An hour later, Jon replied. "lol. I promise x" Martin stared at that tiny little x for at least 10 minutes. What did Jon mean by that?

Martin thought he knew when he finally saw the tired but relieved smile spread across Jon's face when he finally saw him again.

5.  
January 31st 2019  
Martin felt his heart freeze when he heard Jon call his name. He'd known he was back for a while now, but he figured that the longer he can stay away from Jon the better. He can't let his feelings get in the way. Not now.  
He stood there, giving the shortest, simplest answers he can to Jon's questions. He looked into Jon's eyes and saw the desperation in them. He wanted to turn around and ignore Jon, as if he never even existed but even now as they stood awkwardly in the hallway he found himself frozen in place.  
The minute he found a chance to leave the conversation, he did. As he walked away he heard Jon sigh. A long, slow, helpless sigh that filled Martin with so much longing. He begged to not see Jon again. He didn't think his heart could take it.

6.  
October 27th, 2019  
Martin groaned as the bright light of the morning sun shone on his face, turning his vision red behind closed eyelids. He turned away from the light, feeling a hand caress his cheek. He opened his eyes to see Jon lying beside him.  
"Good morning." Jon said softly. Martin groaned something along the lines of "morning" back. He lazily brought one hand to the small of Jon's back, bringing himself closer and feeling the warmth of Jon's body against his own.  
"You know what I'd really fancy right now?" Martin said softly. Jon hummed questioningly in return. "A fry." Martin said.  
"And who's going to make that?" Jon scoffed.  
"Pleeeaaaase, Jon?" Martin put on his 'sad but cute' voice since he knew Jon couldn't say no to it. "I haven't tasted your cooking in years! I miss it."  
Jon thought for a second. "Only if you go to the shop." He smiled.  
Martin smiled back as their noses ever so slightly brushed. "Only if we can stay here, like this, for another half an hour."  
Jon let out a small, breathy laugh. "Deal." He sighed. He moved his hands to hold Martin closer, nuzzling his face into the curly ginger locks.  
"I love you." Martin said contently.  
He felt Jon place the gentlest kiss on the top of his head. "I love you too." He sighed, audibly smiling.  
In that moment, Martin knew.


End file.
